November 7, 2022 Storm Complex
The November 7, 2022 Storm Complex was an intense but short-lived severe weather outbreak across the Southwest United States. Along with tornadoes, hail, severe wind, and flooding also occurred, with heavy snow blanketing areas over 9,000 feet in elevation. The event was the most intense severe weather outbreak on record in the Southwest United States, and caused the strongest tornado on record west of the Rocky Mountains to occur. Meteorological Synopsis A unique and very rare slew of conditions came together on November 7 to allow the severe weather to occur. Firstly, a large area of low pressure situated over southern Alberta and northern Montana directed cold air from Canada down the West Coast, where it met warm air coming from a high pressure located over western Texas and eastern New Mexico. This created atmospheric instability, but moisture coming from Hurricane Paine's remnants, which was approaching from the south-southwest, allowed severe storms to develop. On November 5, 2022, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a Slight risk of severe weather for the California/Arizona/Nevada border region that included a 15% of severe weather, and a 5% of significantly severe weather occurring in the Colorado River basin of southern Nevada, eastern California, and western Arizona for their Day 3 outlook of November 7. The next day, on November 6, the Day 2 outlook had upgraded the severe risk from a Slight risk to a Moderate risk, which encompassed much of the same areas. However, an Enhanced risk now covered areas of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, with a Slight Risk reaching Colorado as well. The new risk map included a 30% of severe weather across Southern California, extreme southern Nevada, and half of Arizona, with a risk of significant severe weather covering San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside counties in California and La Paz, Mohave, and Yuma counties in Arizona. On the Day 1 outlook, released on November 7, a high risk had been issued for most of Arizona, with extreme Southern California and a small portion of New Mexico under the high risk as well. A 45% of tornadoes with a 15% of severe tornadoes was issued for this risk area, as well as a 60% chance of significantly severe wind and a 45% of significant hail. By the 18z outlook, the risk had been significantly lowered to a Slight risk, as most of the severe thunderstorms had either died or converged into a disorganized squall line over central New Mexico and southern Colorado. At 5 am, the National Weather Services in San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas issued a tornado watches for areas within the moderate and high risk areas, and severe thunderstorm watches for areas in slight and enhanced risks. By 8 am, the first severe thunderstorms had begun to develop off the coast of Baja California. At around 9:30 am, multiple waterspouts were spotted off the coast of Ensenada, and the first tornado of the outbreak came from a waterspout moving onshore in Ensendad muncipality at around 10am. At that same time, the United States began seeing its first severe thunderstorms. By 10:53 am, California had seen its first tornado of the outbreak. At the same time that California was seeing its first tornado, the first major tornado of the outbreak struck Punta Prieta in Baja California at EF3 intensity. An EF3 touched down briefly in Los Angeles County at 11:19 am, and the first violent tornado, an EF5, tracked nearly 51 miles in San Diego, Orange, and Riverside counties. Several other violent tornadoes touched down, including an EF5 that touched down in the deserts of Imperial County, an EF4 that struck areas in Phoenix, and an EF5 that devastated Sierra Vista, Arizona. By 8 pm, all but one of the supercells that had formed over eastern Arizona merged into a powerful squall line, dropping a few more tornadoes across west-central New Mexico. The quall line also produced very powerful straight-line winds, with a gust of 92 miles per hour being recorded in Reserve, New Mexico. The squall tracked into the Texas Panhandle, where it dissipated at around 1:45 am on November 8 (Central Daylight Time). Overall, the storm system became one of the costliest severe weather outbreaks on record, and caused the Eastern Pacific hurricane name Paine to be retired and replaced with Phoebe for the 2026 season. Tornadoes All times are in Pacific Daylight Time because the SDTWFC headquarters are located in the Pacific Daylight Timezone. Notable Tornadoes Portico de San Antonio-Tijuana, Baja California Norte At 10:58 am, the first reports of a tornado came in from a driver who witnessed a funnel cloud touchdown 2 miles southeast of the 201 Highway. The tornado had developed from a powerful supercell moving northwest. At first, the tornado remained weak, snapping limbs off of large trees along its path before crossing the 201. After it had crossed the highway, it began to increase of size, developing into a cone tornado. The tornado then moved into the village of Ejido Morelos, where several outbuildings and small homes sustained significant damage. The tornado then struck the Iglesia Torre Fuerte Rosarito, ripping the tin roof off of the building and causing 2 outside walls to cave in. Cars in the parking lot were tossed, and several other buildings at the site also lost their roofs. Damage at the church was rated mid-range EF2 due to poor nature of the building's construction. The tornado then moved over a hilly region, gaining speed as the structure diminished into a weak multi-vortex shape. The tornado struck a home in southern Ampliación Ejido Plan Libertador, causing minor roof damage. The tornado began to solidify its multi-vortex status, strengthening as it moved further into the town. The tornado caused major roof damage to over 50 poorly built apartment buildings, injuring nearly 20 people as fly debris stuck buildings and cars. At this point, the tornado's bottom half had become nearly invisible, though the tornado packed winds approaching 110 miles per hour across a 300 yard area. The tornado intensified into an EF2 again, striking a row of buildings along De los Pinos road, causing significant roof damage, with several homes sustaining significant exterior wall damage as well. A poorly built grocery store collapsed, killing 1 and injuring 4 others. As the tornado began to move out of Ampliación Ejido Plan Libertador, it continued to cause EF1 damage to homes and other buildings, snapping trees nd power poles as well. 3 more homes sustained EF2 damage as the tornado blew off their roofs. The tornado moved into the community of Cuesta Blanca, cuasing significant damage to many homes and businesses there. The tornado moved into a large-scale housing community, where nearly 40 concrete homes sustained significant structural damage. 20 more homes at the north end of the community were almost completely destroyed, with only interior walls left remaining. 4 people here were killed, and damage at these homes was rated 140 mph EF3 as the homes were not properly constructed. A large factory was ripped apart, as th tin roof blew off and debris fromw ithin the building was sucked out, killing 2 workers and injuring 17 more. The tornado moved over almost 100 2-story homes outside of the factory, which lost their second floors, and some completely collapsed. However, these houses were very small, high-density homes, and were poorly constructed. Despite the entire region being covered in debris, only 2 people were killed, though almost 60 people were injured, 9 critically. The tornado caused moderate roof damage to a secondary school and 17 apartment buildings north of the factory as well. The tornado continued to cause major roof damage to homes and busniesses as it moved into Portico de San Antonio, causing major damage to the second floor of several town homes, and causing to roof of a pharmacy to collapse. The tornado then rapidly became a large cone tornado, causing major damage to small homes, storage facilities, and outbuildings along Av Estrella Sur, completely destroying and sweeping away 2 small, poorly built homes. The powerful tornado then moved over the Santa Fe community, though this time the homes were 2-stories and well-built. Despite these qualities, the homes sustained major structural deformation, with winds estimated to have reached 155 miles per hour. The second floors of the home swere completely destroyed, with some homes also losing some of the exterior walls on the bootom floors. On the other side of the street, many concrete and brick shops and busniesses were heavily damaged, with cars being mangled and thrown into the streets. The edge of the tornado caused moderate damage to a primary school, blowing half the roof off of the main building and damaging three classrooms with flying debris. In the Sante Fe community of Portico de San Antonio, 15 people were killed and over 200 were injured. The tornado began to transition back into a multi-vortex state as it turned north-northwest, causing major roof damage to a paintball facility. A violent sub-vortice within the main tornado struck a car junkyard, mangling cars and tossing them up to a quarter of a mile. At one point, radar indicated that as many as 250 cars were airborne within the tornado as 150 mile per hour winds moved through the site. Cars and other debris were thrown into the Verona Resedencial neighborhood, causing considerable damage to many buildings there, injuring 12 people. The tornado also moved through the Francisco Zarco neighborhood, completely destroying 15 small homes and demolishing 7 storage trailers and other small buildings, killing 2 people. The tornado moved over a hill, causing massive tree damage. As the tornado moved down the other side of the hill, it began to expand massively, going from a quarter mile wide to over a mile wide in just 2 minutes. The tornado reached peak width of 1.75 miles wide as it moved into southern regions of Tijuana. A shopping center in the community of Loma Bonita suffered a direct hit. The entire complex of stores was massively damaged, with the entire structure crumpling and collapsing. Cars in the parking lot were lofted and mangled, and homes surrounding the shopping plaza were almost completely destroyed. Winds in this area awere estimated at 165 miles per hour, as the shopping center was not well built. Due to the tornado's massive size, almost 450 buldings were being damaged and any given moment. Over 230 buildings recieved signifcant EF2+ damage, and nearly 1,000 got at least EF0 damage int eh Loma Bonita neighborhood, and 27 people were killed. As the tornado moved north, it rapidly constricted, going back down to 0.75 miles wide. An area of poorly built, slum-like buildings were completely leveled, thought hed amage was only rated EF2 due to the very poor construction of the buildings. The tornado became stable as a half-mile wide cone, reintensifying to an EF3 as it moved into a more heavily populated area of Tijuana. Dozens of homes and businesses were severaly damaged or destroyed, while many more recieved some lower degree of damage. The tornado weakened slightly as it struck the Baja California State Civil Protection Coordination Building, blowing the roof off the building. Nearby, the Children Heroes Elementary School suffered a roof collapse, killing 4 students and 1 teacher who were inside at the time, as well as injuring 37 more. The tornado continued moving north as it strated to constrict in size, damaging almost 2,000 buildings by the time it reached Av. Landres at EF3 strength. By this time, it wad been rdeuced to just 1/5 of a mile in size. Several poorly built homes along Av. Landres were completely destroyed, and the Pizza Ferreira restaraunt collapsed, trapping 6 people under the debris. The Garden of Salvadoran Children School suffered a direct hit, with the whole school suffering significant damage. The second floor of the concrete block building was blown away, and exterior walls on the first floor collapsed. At the school 14 children and 3 staff were tragically killed. The tornado continued to inflict EF2 and EF3 damage to dozens of buildings that were impacted by the core of the tornado. However, by this time, word of the tornado had spread throughout the city, allowing people substanital time gto get to an appropriate shelter. The Convent of Our Lady of La Paz and Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall churchs, a nursing home, and other structures along Av. Landres were largely destroyed by winds approaching 140 miles per hour, and a nearby nursing home suffred significant damage. In this area of damage, 5 people were killed. The tornado then began to weaken even more, causing significant roof damage to a library and blowing roofs off of many other strcutres as it decreased to less than 400 yards wide. The tornado moved through the Panteon Cemetary, downing trees and crushing old gravestones sith debris that had been carried from various parts of the city. At just after 11:20am, the tornado crossed the Mexico-United States border, picking up a pickup truck off the road and tossing it 200 yards, killing both occupants. The tornado then rapidly weakened and constricted, dissipating 2 minutes later at 11:22am in southern San Ysidro, California. Along its 19 mile path, the tornado killed 78 people and injured almost 850, as well as casuing massive property damage. Several government buildings were damaged, including 2 that sustained EF2+ damage. Damage in Tijuana alone was estimated to close to $1 billion USD, though when accounting for areas outside of TIjuana that were hit, like Cuesta Blanca and Portico de San Antonio, that count could be close to $1.2 billion. The tornado warranted a decleration of a national emergency for Rosarito Beach and Tijuana municipalities in Baja California Norte. Torrance-Gardena-West Athens, California A powerful thunderstorm developed over Catalina Island at around 10:40am, and moved north-northeast, rapidly strengthening. By 11am, it had moved over Palos Verde in Los Angeles County and began moving very slowly. At 11:10am, it developed rotation, and just 9 minutes later, a rope tornado touched down in a parking lot in Torrance. The tornado initially snapped off tree limbs before impacting an industrial complex, causing minor roof damage to several large warehouses. In began to strengthen, striking a large Brookvale International Corporation warehouse, shattering solar panels on the roof and peeling parts of the sheetmetal roof off. The tornado continued north, downing trees and moving cars in parking lots. The tornado caused more roof damage to several more small industrial buildings, before crossing the 405 Highway. At 11:20am the tornado moved into a residential area, causing severe roof damage to dozens of homes. The tornado then rapidly widened, reaching a peak width of 350 yards, causing severe to damage to several homes. Three homes in this location saw the entire roof removed, along with all outside walls collapsed. This damage was rated 145mph EF3. At this point, a tornado warning had been in place for over 10 minutes, and most people had made it to a shelter. Despite this, 1 person was killed in this area, and 14 others were inured. The tornado mainted EF3 intensity as it moved over the Royal Western Mobile Home Park. 28 trailers were damaged, and 13 were completely destroyed. 12 people were killed here, and 20 more injured. The nearby Torrance Mobile Home Community was also damaged, and 2 perople were injured there. The Extra Space Storage complex saw several storage buildings severly damaged, and a nearby gas station's west facing wall was blown in. The tornado then weakened to an EF2 tornado, ripping a section of the roof off of an auto sales building. Several cars at the location were flipped and many others damaged by flying debris. Trailers in the back lot of a UPS shipping center were overturned, and one was blown into the side of the building, causing the wall to collapse. 10 mobile homes in the Gardena Villas mobile home complex were severley damaged, leading to deaths of 2 people. The small, brick Crewnshaw Doors and Windows shop was completely destroyed after the tornado breifly restrengthened to EF3 strength. Despite the building being partially blown away, it was given low-end EF3 damage with winds of 140mph due to the bulding being very poorly built and not anchored to the foundation in any way. The owner of the store was killed and 2 employees were critically injured. Nearby, a Dollar Tree suffered a partial roof collapse and loss of the front wall. The tornado then rapidly weakened to an EF1, causing roof and wall damage to dozens of homes and businesses, and downing trees and telephone poles. Restrenghtening, several homes along West 158th street in Gardena suffered major roof damage. A Nissan building had all of its windows blown out, and every car at the site was damaged. Crossing West Redondo Beach Boulevard, the tornado rapidly weakened, becoming a small funnel as it ripped shingles off of several homes and broke limbs off of trees. This continued for several blocks until it once again reached EF1 strength, peeling a portion of roof off of two portable classrooms at the One-Hundred Fifty-Third Street Elementary School, injuring several second grade students and 1 teacher. Briefly weakening again, shingles are windows were damaged as the tornado continued to move through residential neighborhoods. The tornado again rapidly strengthened, blowing the roofs off of several townhouses. 1 person was killed after being crushed by falling debris. High-end EF2 damage occured to 2 consecutive blocks of apartment buildings and townhouses, where the whole of roof and several walls of the top floor were collapsed. 1 more person was killed, and 9 were injured. The roof of the Gardena body shop was severely damaged, and the tornado restrengthened to an EF3 as it moved into another industrial complex. Several large warehousses had their roofs collapse, and scrapped cars, boats, and other vehicles at the Lancast Aluminum recycling site were lofted and mangled, seding thousands of pounds of mangled aluminum through the air, majorly damaing nearby buildings. 2 workers were killed, and 39 others were injured, 14 critically. Severe damage continued throughout the complex, with 13 other buildings uffering severe roof damage. Cars in parking lots were tossed. Amazingly, due to the advanced warnings, no one else was killed, and only 28 were injured. The tornado then weakened to an EF2 as it struck a junk yard, and nearby poorly built homes were severly damaged. The tornado continued to cause moderate roof damage to several industrial buildings, as well as downing trees and power lines. The tornado struck the Whitney & Co. building, causing the entire roof to collapse at EF3 intensity, injuring 8 and killing 4. Afterwards, the tornado crossed into another residential area in southern West Athens, causing severe roof damage to over 60 homes. The tornado then weakened further to an EF1, causing partial roof damage, rolling cars, snapping trees, and blowing out windows. At 11:25am, the tornado dissipated over the Glenn Anderson Freeway. The tornado caused nearly $2.4 billion dollars in damages and 22 deaths. Almost all of the monetary damage came from the severe damage to the industrial complexes.